Lena Headey on her work with refugees and what inspired her to share her #MeToo story
Game of Thrones star Lena Headey is just back from travelling around Europe with the International Rescue Committee. She took time out to tell Mashable about some of the things that are closest to her heart -- including motherhood, the Time's Up movement and her humanitarian work.
"I met some extraordinary people that fucking lit my heart on fire," Headey says after returning from a trip to Germany where she reunited with a Syrian refugee and her family.
Headey -- who is also currently filming the final season of Game of Thrones -- says it has been an incredibly enlightening experience to step out of her comfort zone and meet people who continue to face perilous situations years after seeking shelter in Europe.
In the summer of 2016 Headey met Marwa in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece. She says Marwa was a "very despondent woman, who didn't know what life had in store for her."
Today, Marwa is living in Germany with her husband, three daughters and their newborn baby. The baby was named Werner after a man who befriended the Syrian family and has been helping them adjust to their new life.
Headey described the incredible transformation she noticed in Marwa since they first met, but was sensitive to the new challenges she and her family face in Germany. Her daughters have been bullied in school for being refugees, she and her husband have struggled to find work and learn the language.
The bond between the two women is a powerful one. It has a lot to do with being mothers, Headey says. And, she says, despite the fact that she plays the formidable Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, when she's at home with her two kids, they come first.
During our catch up, we also Headey asked her about the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment.
"Big changes will be made and I want my children to be part of that. You know, I have a heartbeat. And there's a long, long, long fucking way to go in all these horrendous inhumanities. But voices make change," she says.
In a series of tweets late last year, Headey revealed details of being harassed by Harvey Weinstein. She cites being a mother as one of the key reasons for stepping forward at the time.
"It ignited something in me. I can't just go home and close my door. I just always think that if I was feeling shitty today, it would help to read something from someone I recognized. Knowing you're not the only one make sense. And having children, it just wakes something up inside you."
BONUS: Lena Headey on #MeToo
Topics Activism Game Of Thrones Social Good
Senior Producer, London.
